The present invention relates to user access control to computers, and more specifically to user access control on a handheld device using sensors responsive to acceleration or orientation or both.
Handheld devices often times include components which signal a change in position of the device relative to the earth's gravity. This change of orientation is often used by software executing on the device.
The miniaturization of handheld devices is a challenge. This challenge is especially difficult when miniaturizing user interface devices such as keyboards. When keyboards become too small, they become difficult to use, especially to users with large hands or the elderly often with limited finger dexterity.
In computer security, a login or logon refers to the credentials required to obtain access to a computer system or other restricted area, such as an application running on the computer system. The term “logging in”, “logging on”, “signing in”, or “signing on” is the process by which individual access to a computer system is controlled by identifying and authenticating the user through the credentials presented by the user. Common login processes are a password sometimes used in combination with a username. The miniaturization of user interface on handheld devices makes this process difficult.